Phantoms Sign Donatas Kumeliauskas

The DALROD sponsored Peterborough Phantoms are delighted to announce the signing of Lithuanian forward Donatas Kumeliauskas.

Kumeliauskas and fellow countryman Darius Pliskauskas are no strangers, as they meet annually to play for Lithuania at the IIHF World Championships. The 27 year old forward has a great deal of experience having played in France, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia and his native country Lithuania. With some impressive stats in the World Championships last year, Kumeliaskas played 5 games, with a total of 4 goals and 4 assists , helping them gain the bronze medal in the group which included Great Britain.

Phantoms Head Coach Slava Koulikov said: “I’m very happy to have Donatas join the Peterborough Phantoms organisation till the end of the season. He is a highly rated forward who I watched play at the World Championships with Lithuania. I feel he has a style of play that will enable him to be a stand out player in the EPL and be one of the better fowards in this league.

“We were aware of him in the summer but he was already under contract so was impossible to bring him in, but we have monitored him throughout the season so far and when he became available we made sure we did everything to bring him to Peterborough.

“He has a right hand shot, a very good skating ability, has a physical side to his game and is very direct in his style of play. I feel he will fit perfectly into the structure we have built and I am looking forward to working with him as we push towards a strong finish in the league and going into the playoffs”

Plans are being made for Donatas to fly to the UK to join his new team mates ahead of the transfer deadline, and the final push before the Play-Offs.

The Peterborough DALROD Phantoms are the cities semi-professional ice hockey team, based at Planet Ice Arena Bretton. This fast, exciting and physical sport is the fastest growing indoor sport in the country. The team is made up of locally trained players who have progressed through the excellent Peterborough youth development, players from across the UK and International players from Europe. In current and recent seasons, a number of Peterborough Players have represented their countries at Junior and Senior level at the IIHF World Championships and Olympic Qualification tournaments.